


That which makes us stronger

by inkfeathers



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: (at least for now), Blood and Injury, Canon Compliant, Gen, Major Character Injury, snk 115
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 11:57:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18093848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkfeathers/pseuds/inkfeathers
Summary: “He’s dead,” They had tonelessly said, like one might announce it’s raining.





	That which makes us stronger

**Author's Note:**

> SNK 115 murdered me. This is my response.

It was more than long-learned soldier camaraderie or a Commander’s feeling of duty, which made them look around the river and jump down from their horse in aid of the inert figure laying still in the middle of the tall grass, without some sort of forethought or consideration. 

 

Hanji was sure that was the case. 

 

For all scientific analysis, there were ties and bonds that were beyond any of their comprehension. Well, wasn’t it something of that matter which had started this whole thing anyway? 

 

Which is why they are sure something greater pulled them to the side of the river earlier that day. Fate wasn’t something Hanji pondered over, but after years working in the Survey Corps it was impossible not to believe in your connections to people. 

 

When Hanji had managed to figure out who the person they were holding in their arms was, for a moment, there ceased to be any air in the world. For a single moment, they were plummeting into the abyss with no gear on and no end near. A thousand  _ No’s  _ running desperately inside their head.  __

 

There were voices behind, but they barely heard them. Every sound, every movement, every thought had narrowed down to the blood-soaked body in their arms. 

 

It couldn’t. He couldn’t be-- 

 

“---shoot him in the head.” 

 

_ Eh? _

 

A moment. That’s all they’d allowed themselves. 

 

“He’s dead,” They had tonelessly said, like one might announce it’s raining. 

 

The explanation came easily. It was what they’d been fearing since they saw him: Explosion. Thunder Spear. Ripped organs. Instant death. It wouldn’t be enough, but they needed time. Time to figure out how they could get him out of there, away from those rats that would tear him to shreds now that they had the opportunity. The only opportunity cowards like them would ever have. Hanji couldn’t keep the ire off their face when rat number one demanded to take his pulse, as if Hanji would have allowed them to touch a hair from his head. If Levi had been well and fit these people would have already ran away shitting their pants. 

 

_ Hah. That’s you talking, Levi. That must mean you are still alive, right?  _

 

_ You are still alive.  _

 

The distraction they needed came in the most outlandish way possible, a naked Zeke emerging from the inside of a Titan’s corpse. Under normal circumstances, Hanji would have wasted no time in processing all this new information, evaluating and filing all the new data for further analysis, but they couldn’t think of that right now. There was one mission and only one mission at the moment: Get. Levi. Out of there.   

 

A Commander needed to know their priorities. 

 

They jumped into the river as soon as all of their eyes were turned, pinching Levi’s nose and pressing a firm palm on his mouth. They heard their muffled yells as the current took them, and one of their bullets nearly blew off their left ear, but that was the least of their concerns. The current was unforgiving as it dragged them across rocks and dirt and when Hanji finally managed to hold onto the riverside, they were trembling from the fear of it all having been to much on Levi’s weakened body. 

 

_ C’mon. Let your freakish strength be useful when it’s needed. Don’t you die on me, Levi. I forbid you to die.  _

 

They pulled him out of the water and set him carefully on the grass and with their heart in their throat they leaned down to press their ear against his chest.  

 

Silence. A moment. Then...

 

Alive. 

 

_ Alive. Alive. Alive. Alive. Alive.  _

 

It was the most beautiful sound Hanji had heard in years. 

 

It was also weak and feeble, so Hanji only wasted time to wipe the unruly tears from their face before doing a quick check-up of Levi’s wounds, and hauling him up to find any place for shelter. 

 

Paradis--No,  _ Humanity  _ couldn’t lose Levi. Who else could possibly save them, if the Jaegerists’ looming threat was followed through and they found themselves with a hundred Titans roaming the cities again? Who could possibly be a match for Zeke? For--For Eren? 

  
  


Who would Hanji talk to? Who would scold them for spending weeks without a shower? 

  
  


_ You little bastard, you can’t leave me alone. _

 

It’s a miracle they kept on walking, when everything was collapsing inside of them, when the tears just couldn’t stop running and the anger threatened to cut their breath. 

 

_ You are all I have, Levi. I can’t do this without you. _

 

The soft sound of a faint breathing, so quiet Hanji could have imagined it, only made their grip grow stronger. 

 

_ Hold on, Levi. Hold on just a little longer. _

 

There is a small village some miles ahead.

 

_ Hold on like you always have.   _

 

They needed to come up with a plan on how to approach them. 

 

_ And I promise you,  _

 

Hanji wouldn’t let anyone lay a single finger on him. 

 

_ You will not die on my watch.  _

 

_ We’ll both make it through once again.   _

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on my tumblr to scream about snk: inkonice.tumblr.com <3


End file.
